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Friday, November 16, 2012

My Roots

Today is my son's birthday. And with his birthday has brought up some good memories and some not so good memories. But it had me thinking as well.

See, each of my children have a family name. I made sure of it. I call my oldest Katie, but that isn't her real name its just a nickname. Her name is actually Kathleen Rea. Her first name is from my great-great grandmother and her middle name is my middle name.

My son's name is Jonathan James. His first name is from my younger brother who passed away in 1990 from SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome for those that don't know) and his middle name is from my Uncle who passed away on Mother's Day 1998.

My youngest daughter's name is Jacklynn Lucille and her name has a story behind it too. See, 2010 when I got pregnant with Jacklynn my grandfather on my father's side had passed away after numerous complications from a stroke. Before I knew if she was a boy or girl I had already decided she was going to be "Jack" One night I had a dream, and in this dream I had curly-haired blue eyed baby. As soon as I knew she had blue eyes, Jack it was but once I knew that she was a girl I couldn't just call her "Jack" I didn't want her made fun of once she hit school age, so I named her Jacklynn instead. Lucille is from my great-great grandmother on my father's side. She just passed away in 2011 at the age of 100. She lived on the reservation her entire life, spoke only of Lakota and somehow knew exactly who I was when she met me for the first time at the age of 19. She was a very wise woman and she will be missed.

I made sure each of my children had family names. I wouldn't have it any other way, I wouldnt know any other way. But I am not the only one..

My grandmother on my mother's side does Genealogy, she has for as long as I remember. With her doing this, here is what I have learned about my heritage from that side of the family:

~We are related to Thomas McVeigh, if you don't know who he is, he is the coward who did the Oklahoma City Bombings, he is my 3rd cousin

~ We are related to James Polk.. Don't remember which president he was, but he was a president.

~We *I* am related to Sitting Bull, and we don't need a history lesson there, we all know who he is.

..thats all I can think of off the top of my head, I know there are tons more I would just have to sit down and get the list from her and that would be a few blogs worth of writing. But I am now inspired to find them all out so I will be getting that list and posting on them soon.

Family history and learning who I am and where I come from have been very important to me and always will be. Some people find it morbid, but my grandmother and I have actually taken little trips to cemetarys to take photos of family headstones for our archives. My other half finds it creepy, Lol And some of you reading this may too, but it doesn't bother me any and I think it will be very informant for future generations to come...

6 comments:

How cool that you named your children after someone in your family lineage. We sort of did the same thing here--sort of. I love to do genealogy--but like everything else it comes in waves. I get all into it--hit a dead end--then I have to put it aside for awhile so I can come back with fresh eyes!!

I bet your great grandparents and grandparents could tell you some wonderful stories. If they do, write them down and pass them on to your children. One day it will make an awesome gift.

Oh yes, my grandmother has lots of wise tales to tell. My grandmother is all of 57 years old and she has already told me a lot. She is also the one who taught me everything that I do know about my family history. And I love every bit of it and I do definitely plan to pass the wiseness on! :)

I love that your kids are named after family. Sometimes I wish I had done the same but my mom kept pushing the name Jerusha and I just couldn't do that to my child. We are a direct line to Pocahontas on my mom's side, as well as Mayflower travelers and signers.. Our family joke is, "My mom's family came over on the Mayflower and my dad's family (Italian/Sicilian) was swimming behind it." :) - Great post. I'm sure your ancestors are proud.

My Mother give my first sister and I names that were popular at the time, but she and Dad had a fight right after my youngest sister was born, so they both refused to name her. So...my Grandfather took matters in his own hands and named her after his Grandmother, who was greatly loved, as well as the subject of many humorous family stories. It seemed she had quite the sense of humor. I am proud to have a sister named Sally, even if it is an old fashioned name. And, I am a tiny bit jealous...